T H E D R O P Z O N E B R I E F I N G Check-In & Office Load Organizing Loading Tips Spotting and Landing Out Exits Below 13500 Unusual Skydives and Planning Landing Area Guidelines Services Available Emergencies W ELCOME TO SKYDIVE CITY/Z-HILLS! This newsletter contains a great deal of important information that will help make your visit a safe and fun time. Please take a couple of minutes to read it before you make your first jump here. Whether you re a first-time visitor or on your 20 th visit, this will help you enjoy your time with us and learn more about Florida s busiest dropzone! C HECK-IN & OFFICE LOCAL GEAR MANUFACTURERS Sunrise Manufacturing Int l 813-788-1910 Tony Suits 813-783-4753 Morpheus Technologies 813-780-8961 OTHER GEAR MANUFACTURERS Performance Designs 386-738-2224 Michigan Suits 386-439- 1036 Everything pertaining to financial transactions and about your visit to Skydive City are handled at the Manifest office. You can receive a briefing there about how to check in, get a gear check, buy tickets, manifest, and boarding, in addition to an introduction to our jumping policies. Please don t hesitate to ask Skydive City s staff about anything. We welcome feedback about the operation and facilities. If you see maintenance or repairs that need our attention, please let us know in the office. There are lots of special services we can help you with too, whether it be organizers, packers, video, coaching, rigging and repairs, jump starting a car or finding tools to work on a camera helmet. If we can t help you, we ll know who can. Our goal is to provide you with a great skydiving experience but we will need your help. We count on you to skydive in a way that takes others into consideration, to inform us if an unsafe condition exists or if there is something we can do to make your visit more enjoyable. You re the customer, so just ask! But you re also a friend and a fellow skydiver, so help us out! TK Hayes DZ Manager Joannie Murphy Co-Owner and Asst. Manager Paul Meagher-S&TA (& Bar Manager too) Laurie Clark Office Manager Deb Dellibac Manifest & Office (and Jess!)
Page 2 Welcome to Skydive City Great Sunset Shot by Tony Hathaway L OAD ORGANIZING We have a large staff of regular and guest organizers for RW, FF, CRW, wing suit and pretty much anything you need. The organizers are for skydivers of all skill levels, so don t be shy. So how do I get on a load? Just come to Manifest and find out which organizers are jumping that day. You can hook up with them and they will organize something for you to do on their next load. Also listen up: most of the organizers will announce they are collecting tickets for the next skydive. Meet some new friends and have some fun at the same time! Our RW Organizers include Nigel, Annemarie, Nigel Turner, Craig Sagalow, and James Saine. Our FF Organizers include Jay, Martin Skrzypczak, Jay McCahan, Jamie Knoop and Samantha Smith. Our Wingsuit Organizers Rob Harris, and Tony Uragallo himself. Generally every weekend we will have people around to organize and almost every weekday as well. Exit Order: L OADING TIPS 1. Low passes 2. RW large to small 3. Freefly large to small 4. High pullers 5. AFF 6. Tandems 7. Wingsuits Skydive City gives 20-15-10-minute and Get It On calls for each load. Please be at the loading area by the Get It On call. Being in the loading area a few minutes early means you ll have time to make sure you are on the right load and figure out the exit order with others on the same aircraft as well as give yourself a good gear check. A load sheet is printed in the loading area for each aircraft, so if there is any confusion, the sheet will indicate who should be on the airplane. Generally, we prefer to put tracking dives out last (flying off the line of flight). Time between exits is also something that should be discussed. If you would like to know winds aloft, the pilots usually write and/or post the report on the white board outside the Manifest window. 5-8 seconds from exit to exit is enough time between groups. If you are unsure of how much time to leave between groups, please ask one of the managers for information before you go to the loading area or you can ask one of the instructors or organizers in the loading area. The exit order works well for most situations. If there is a tracking dive on the load, jump run is not the best time to sort it out. It s up to you to be at the loading area in time to discuss these issues.
Welcome to Skydive City Page 3 S POTTING AND LANDING OUT At Skydive City, the pilot spots the airplane, and we expect you to exit when the green light is on. If you see a completely unsafe situation, such as a plane intercepting jump run, obviously you can stay in. However, thinking the spot is a little long - or a little short - is not a reason to hesitate or to expect a go around. Waiting to give yourself the perfect spot means everyone else loses. Early groups are supposed to be short late groups are supposed to be long. We monitor nearly every load, and have a lot of experience with spotting. There may be other issues you don t know about, like another plane on jump run two minutes behind. Unless conditions are extreme, we normally fly jumprun either due North or due South and offset to the East or West to make up for winds aloft. upwind jumpruns, but due to the size and shape of our airport as well as the off field landing areas, we find this works best. Please - if you think the spot is off but the light is green, GO unless there is an obvious hazard other than landing out. At Skydive City, the entire airport is an acceptable landing area. There are also many open fields along Chancey Road, although you may want to note that all paved roads have power lines near them. As a rule, avoid straight-line objects on the ground and you should have a safe landing area. Look out for trees, cows & fences! Once again, do not expect a go-around just because you think the spot may be a little off. Be a good sport and get out; we ll work it out and we are is happy to discuss our spotting methods with you. someone reports the out landing to manifest. If you do report an out landing, be sure to tell them direction, distance, and about how many people our chase vehicle should look Please - if you think the spot is off but the light is green, GO unless there is an obvious hazard other than landing out for. If the spot is long, it is OK to pull 500 higher to help get you home, IF AND ONLY IF you are not endangering anyone that is exiting the plane after you. Never track back to the DZ. Remember, people left the plane before you! They ll be somewhere along that line if you track for the dz. It s a really good idea to know what the wind direction is in case you do land out, especially under a reserve. As you go out to the loading area, take a few seconds to face into the wind and get your bearings. Another useful tip is to observe the landing area while under canopy. Even if you can t see the wind indicators, seeing which way other canopies are landing can help you decide on a direction. If the spot gets long and the green light goes off, stay ready to jump. We will often do a second pass on a 180 turn rather than a 360. In this case, when the light turns green again, exit immediately! Usually this is a downwind jump run, so don t take any longer than you would on a normal one. This may seem odd to people who generally fly We ll try to pick you up if you land out, especially if E XITS BELOW 13500 During a boogie, low passes over the DZ may not be an option. For obvious reasons, we cannot have a plane dropping at 5,000 when other planes are dropping at 13,500. It s almost impossible to coordinate low passes, so we often don t do them if more than one plane is flying. You can ask for, but may not receive a low pass during the really busy times. There are other options - be on the first loads of the day or try to coordinate your jumps with fuel loads when perhaps only one airplane is in the air. CRW has similar problems. We can accommodate experienced CRW practitioners with the skills to stay in safe airspace, but high openings must always be planned ahead. Do not plan to do CRW here without arranging it in advance. Novice CRW is especially discouraged during boogies without a very thorough planning session with the management. We have a number of world champion CRW dogs here that would be happy to impart their wisdom upon you. Just ask Manifest to get you to the right people.
Page 4 Welcome to Skydive City U NUSUAL SKYDIVES & PLANNING If you have an unusual plan, such as tracking, raft dive, skysurfing, etc., we need to know before you board. Please make sure that you tell one of the load organizers or instructors in the loading area and confirm that the information is relayed to the pilot. Sky balls in particular must be cleared by Management before manifesting! It is routine for more than one airplane to be flying. If you don t know where the other planes are, you have to make an assumption: another airplane could be on the same jump run, as little as two minutes behind. For this reason, L ANDING AREA GUIDELINES opening high is extremely dangerous during busy jump days. Don t plan on opening above 4,000 feet for any reason, unless you receive prior permission from management. If you pull a little high and have a big canopy, do not sit in brakes or ride thermals on a busy day! Realistically, a busy boogie is not the place for student jumpers or for testing new gear. If you have an A license, you should be pulling no higher than 4,500 feet. If you are planning on pulling anywhere above 3,500 feet, please notify one of the organizers or instructors in the loading area. If you have accidentally deployed high, such as in an exit funnel, get off the jump run as quickly as possible! Fly ninety degrees to the line of flight until you are at minimum ¾ of a mile from the jump run. If you don t know what line of flight is, please watch a few jump runs or ask someone before you get on the aircraft. Once you are clear of the jumprun path, you can choose to spiral down if you wish. We appreciate seeing some sort of activity so that we know you are not unconscious or hurt. The landing area here at Skydive City is about 80 acres (HUGE!) and has plenty of room for everyone doing anything they want, but because of the possibility of collisions and hard landings associated with avoiding them, it can be a dangerous place. The airspace above the central grounds of the drop zone is a no fly zone below 500 feet. By this time you should be well established in a landing pattern. Under no circumstances is anyone allowed to buzz spectators or buildings on landing! The Pink Zone inside the Swoop Pond is for highly experienced jumpers and tandems only. Swooping is fine, but if you are on your own pass or have
Welcome to Skydive City Page 5 L ANDING AREA GUIDELINES (CONT D) taken whatever precautions to eliminate traffic issues. It is YOUR responsibility to make sure that there are no traffic hazards. Swooping the pond is a privilege! If your swoop is going to cause a hazard for the others on the load, it would be best if you land with everyone else. Our pond is more than 1 Acre in size, so swooping into the wind should be no problem. If the dominant winds are in agreement with your intended swoop, there should be no problem. If you will be swooping the pond cross wind, do not do so, as you are risking other jumpers safety. Maybe you fly a big, slow canopy. These can pose a hazard too. Please don t use deep brake approaches or S turns to set up your landing. These techniques are the equivalent of driving slowly on the highway or swerving from lane to lane, and have no place in a busy landing area. Rogue canopy pilots will be spoken to, try not to be one of those people. We have alternate landing areas, such as the field north of the hanger. And you may be asked to stay over there if you want to swoop low and fast. Whether you fly fast or slow, any behavior that is inconsiderate to the overall traffic pattern can result in restrictions on YOUR jumping, depending on the severity of the infraction. If you are a swooper, you would be wise to observe the local style and inquire with management about whether or not your technique is considered acceptable prior to any aggressive maneuvers. No matter where you land, stay alert! And always remember that it s easier to give up your landing area and take it further out on the airport than it is to recover from a collision or a low turn caused by traffic conflicts. Everyone follows the first person down, again regardless of what the wind is doing. Don t spiral or hang out in brakes over the landing area & pattern. It s inconsiderate & unsafe. Keep your head on a swivel. On calm days (light & variable winds), the traffic pattern is often chaotic as people choose different directions. In all conditions, the yellow arrow establishes the landing direction. Please follow that. We hope that you enjoy your time here at Skydive City. Unsure? ASK! The landing direction. Is set by the Yellow Arrow in the loading area. Light and variable conditions? Please set the Yellow Arrow to either North or South S ERVICES AVAILABLE AT SKYDIVE CITY Tunnel Coaching Hard Dock Café Breakfast, Lunch and Boogie Dinners Bird House & Sunset Bar Open every day after Sunset Loads departs Paragone Rigging full service rigging loft Sunshine Factory Complete Pro Shop & Gear rentals Nylon City Packing East Coast Freefly & Total Body Pilot freefly coaching Tunnelcoach.com Wind Wing Suit School SkydiveRatings.com Complete rating certification for all USPA ratings City Hall Team Rooms,
Page 6 Welcome to Skydive City C AMPING, RV PARK & FACILITIES The Swoop Pond is one of the best courses in the world. We offer a full-service RV Park with sewer, water, electric. These are obtained in advance and you have to sign a lease. Check ahead of time as most of the winter we are full by September. You will also be responsible for your own electric bill, but the RV slots do have 30A and/or 50A electric capability (actually anything you want), but you need the power company to turn on the power and know what slot you are in. Manifest can help you with this. The rates are $375/month. If you do 20 jumps in a month you will get a$100 discount on the rent in the next month. We also have temporary RV electric-only slots, scattered about the dropzone. A mix of 30A and 20A outlets for $15/ day or $300/month. These are first-come-first serve and have no water or sewer. Tent Camping is also allowed and we have no charge for this. It is assumed for ALL residents at Skydive City that you will be actively skydiving while you are here. We prefer not to be a hang-out for non-skydivers due to airport security concerns. This is covered in the Airport Security Guidelines on the next page. We have dumpsters for garbage, hot showers, laundry facilities, food, a great bar, gear sales, free Wi-Fi all over the dropzone and pretty much everything you need to make the stay complete. 7000 people from 50 countries visit Skydive City each year. We re Here to help. Please don t be afraid to ask.. This is the layout of the RV park and the camping areas. We do ask that you stick to these areas for such activities. The Zephyrhills Airport takes the issue of airport security rather seriously, and so do we. Your cooperation is appreciated and will help ensure future skydiving at our location.
Welcome to Skydive City Page 7 A IRPORT SECURITY CONCERNS Light Red: Landing and Skydiving areas. In use during jump operations, No spectators, No friends. No after-hours. Dark Read Areas: Aircraft Operations and Hangar. Off-Limits at all times without escort. Green Areas: Regular dropzone areas open to all people at all times. Since 9/11 and similar terrorist actions around the world, the aviation industry has taken many steps to secure airports, and Zephyrhills is no different. During normal jumping operations of course, the landing areas and the entire airport for that matter is available for you to land on if you need to. The light red areas in the picture show the typical landing areas, accessible by all jumpers, but we ask that spectators and friends remain out of this area at all times. The darker red area includes the hangar, the fuel farm and the aircraft, which are off-limits to everyone anytime other than boarding or un-boarding an aircraft. So if you want to go look at a plane or get a picture, just ask our staff and we will be happy to escort you. The Green areas are for all jumpers, spectators and friends, and we ask that after jumping is done that you remain inside this main part of Skydive City s property. Going for walks on the runway or any after-hours activities in the landing area or active airport areas simply creates security headaches that Skydive City does not need. We very much value our relationship with the City and want to make sure we are here for decades to come. Walking dogs or going for a run? Sky Dive Lane leads out to the Chancey Road area and there are many walking trails in the forest on the East side of Chancey Road it is quite beautiful over there and difficult to get lost. These trails have parking located near Freefall Avenue and it is free use pubic areas, plus the local County Parks, Hillsborough River State Park and Krusen Field, all within minutes of Skydive City. Just ask for directions. You are expected to have your dog/pet leashed and under your control at all times. No exceptions, please.
4241 Sky Dive Lane T H E D R O P Z O N E B R I E F I N G Phone: 800-888-JUMP Toll Free USA Local: 813-783-9399 Fax: 813-783-2171 E-mail: info@skydivecity.com Thanks for helping to make Skydive City a fun and safe place to skydive. If there is anything we can do to make your visit better, please let me know. If we ever stop making this place fun then we are obviously screwing up so pull me aside and tell me! Florida's #1 Skydiving Center www.skydivecity.com M ORE ON CUTAWAYS, LANDING OUT: Thanks to Oren & Laura for putting this together as well as Skydive Arizona and Betsy Barnhouse for letting us use sections of their Boogie Briefing. Coming back to the topic of line of flight, this is a sadly neglected area of safety. An observed line of flight tells you a lot - where other people will be in freefall, where other planes will be dropping, and so on. It s a good idea to know this, so that you ll know - for example - where you ll be if the spot is long or if you Ehave MERGENCIES a reserve ride. It s also a good practice to get open and then check your group and then scan others along the line of flight to see if anyone is under a reserve and could use a little help. There are few places to land off the dropzone, so if you do have a cutaway, your best plan is to look down and make a note of where you are exactly over the ground, then get your butt back to a safe landing area, preferably the dropzone. We can use that to go help find your canopy and free-bag. When someone does have a reserve ride, please report it to Manifest right away. We try to chase down every emergency to make sure the reserve landing is OK and to help recover the equipment. We may not see every jump, so please let us know if you see someone under a reserve. Once again, be prepared to report useful information. Report what you saw, distance and direction, and approximate number of people involved. We have a tracker that we often use when canopies go into the swamp or other inaccessible areas. He will need to know what the winds were doing, where you were and other details. Manifest can give you the contact information for the tracker. If you see someone get hurt, also report to Manifest right away with detailed information. We have direct communication to the emergency dispatchers and that is how they expect to be contacted. Calling 911 on your own actually produces a slower response, since it might con- fuse them about where exactly the emergency is. The only time you should call 911 yourself is if the emergency is off the DZ and you can t report it to Manifest. All drop zone vehicles are off limits, because we rely on these to respond with when something goes wrong. Under no circumstances should anyone borrow a golf cart or car that belongs to the drop zone! If you would like to use a drop zone vehicle for some reason, please ask Manifest or management first. Finally, we welcome help from trained, current emergency medical staff. If you are qualified and are interested in helping out, please let us know at Manifest so we can give you a quick over view of the area protocols and our first aid capabilities.